The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
In conventional supply chain operation, the different business partners communicate via e-mail, fax, or phone call. One of the business partners may run a particular application on its own database system to which the other entities log onto and enter data by hand. The different business partners also enter data into their own database systems. This process is cumbersome, time-consuming, and tends to cause inaccuracies.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods that allow companies to easily share information, e.g. in a supply chain.